Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Alex Rodriguez said he’ll no longer
participate in his drug-suspension grievance hearing unless
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig also testifies, and
called the whole process “a farce.”

Rodriguez slammed his hand on a table in frustration and
then stalked out of his hearing yesterday in New York, where the
Yankees’ third baseman is seeking to overturn a 211-game ban,
the longest drug suspension in MLB history.

Rodriguez, 38, later in the day went on a New York radio
station to plead his case and state that he hasn’t used any
performance-enhancing drugs since 2001-03. MLB has said
Rodriguez used testosterone and human growth hormone for
multiple years, and later tried to obstruct baseball’s
investigation.

“The bottom line is I’ve worked for 20 years, I’ve
dedicated more than half of my life to baseball, whether you
like me or not, what’s wrong is wrong and the system is wrong,”
Rodriguez said on WFAN radio in New York.

Rodriguez left yesterday’s hearing after arbitrator Fredric
Horowitz refused to order Selig to testify, and the player said
in a statement that the “absurdity and injustice just became
too much.” Rodriguez sued MLB and Selig last month for
attempting to destroy his reputation and career.

“Selig is not testifying,” Rodriguez’s lawyer, Jim
McCarroll, said on WFAN. “Alex has been told by his union that
if he testifies, there’s a meaningful likelihood that he gets
hit with more discipline by his accusers because they don’t
believe him. Would you testify?”

Grievance System

MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said the league and players’
union have had a contractual grievance system to address
disputes between the two parties for more than 40 years.

“This negotiated process has served players and clubs
well,” Courtney said in an e-mail. “Despite Mr. Rodriguez
being upset with one of the arbitration panel’s rulings today,
Major League Baseball remains committed to this process and to a
fair resolution of the pending dispute.”

The MLB Players Association said in a statement that every
player has the right to directly confront his accuser in the
arbitration process.

“We argued strenuously to the arbitrator in Alex’s case
that the commissioner should be required to appear and
testify,” the MLBPA said in a statement. “While we
respectfully disagree with the arbitrator’s ruling, we will
abide by it as we continue to vigorously challenge Alex’s
suspension within the context of this hearing.”

Getting Personal

Rodriguez said he’ll meet with his lawyers to figure out
his next course of action, though he said he doesn’t plan to
participate in the hearing unless Selig agrees to “face the
music.”

“One hundred percent this is personal,” Rodriguez said.
“This is about his legacy and about my legacy. He’s trying to
destroy me and, by the way, he’s retiring in 2014. To put me on
his big mantle on the way out, that’s a hell of a trophy.”

Rodriguez was allowed to play out the sixth year of his 10-year, $275 million contract, the largest in baseball, last
season while appealing the suspension.

The three-time American League Most Valuable Player has
acknowledged taking performance-enhancing drugs as a member of
the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003. He’s denied any use after
that and repeated that yesterday when asked about his links to
Anthony Bosch, founder of the Biogenesis of America anti-aging
clinic in Coral Gables, Florida. MLB is investigating whether
players were supplied with performance-enhancing drugs from
Biogenesis, and has obtained company records and gained Bosch’s
cooperation.

“I did nothing,” Rodriguez said. “Take away what we
talked about in the past. With the Bosch nonsense, nothing.”

Rodriguez said he didn’t hear one bit of “credible
evidence” during 12 days of the hearing. While he doesn’t know
what will happen next, Rodriguez said he hopes he’ll soon be
able to focus on playing baseball again.

“I’m ready for opening day,” Rodriguez said on WFAN.
“For the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m going to
have a full offseason to work hard and prepare. I feel that
we’re going to come back and have a good year and I hope I’m
right in the middle of this.”